By Gus Saltonstall
Over the years, we have received a handful of questions about the eye-catching doors on the other side of the tracks within the 1, 2, and 3 train station at West 72nd Street and Broadway.
Last week, Robert Sietsema, the longtime New York City food critic, posed the question on social media.
“Anyone notice the tiny ornate door on the other side of the tracks at the 72nd St. IRT station? A hobbit door to the Shire?”
While he was specifying one door, there are actually multiple of these doors on both the uptown and downtown sides of the Upper West Side station.
“Spent my whole life wondering what’s behind there,” one person wrote in response to Sietsema’s post.
Another commenter responded, “Gotta be Robert Moses’ crypt.”
While the doors have an undeniable fantastical element to them, the reality of what they hide is somewhat underwhelming.
“The doors at the 72nd St 123 station are utility closets that contain cables,” a spokesperson for the MTA told West Side Rag.
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